First things first it appears NEW. Not a mark on it anywhere. The neck is a satin finish. The neck plate is blank!! It's Torino Red as I checked a Fender catalogue and it looks exactly the same. It is very light, about 7 pounds for you imperial people. The neck is a short radius a la 62' reissue. The sound is spiky, Strattty and somehow tactile. Acoustically is is very zingy, resonant and bright. There is a MUCH more pleasant sound that my MIJ 62' reissues that I thought were so good!! The body really vibrates when strumming.

Tonight I'm gigging with my band so I'll give it a good run and see how it performs in a band situation. I must confess my luthier who set it up was most impressed with the build quality and all the hardware. CTS pots, cloth wiring, Switcraft etc.

Did the gig Saturday night and I took along my new friend Mr. Bacchus plus my MIJ '62 Reissue and my Epiphone Semi...

My impressions of the Bacchus are that it is quite different to my other Strat, or indeed any other Strats I've played. Very nice satin neck which I really liked, and the pickups are obviously a higher output. Someone here said that the Yuta ones were along similar tonal lines as Texas Specials but I've never played them so....

Not as "sparkly" as my othere MIJ Strats but far "beefier" with a distinct edge. The crunch setting was just fantastic! I had my drive on the Deville set at about 2 1/2 and simply backed off the pick attack for slightly cleaner tones when needed. I really like this guitar on that setting with a boost for solos. The distorted sound is also worlds away from some flabby Strats I've played. Muscular yet edgy and throaty at the same time.

When I can I'll post some decent photos but I can say at this time it is the best $850 I've ever spent! It looks as though it has never been played! Does anyone here know what market these were pitched to? Were they expensive at the time of release....what a guitar!

Good stuff, but it will most likely be nitro top coat only (just like a real Fender)
There may be some special order Bacchus guitars that have a full nitro finish, but all the normal production guitars are nitro over poly._________________Totally biased towards Japanese made guitars.